Close collaboration and communication was vital to understanding the direction our client wanted to take. To position the new brand, we studied competitors and other lifestyle brands with the same customer base, as well as key player brands that our client found inspiring.

Researching the history of apothecaries and alchemists, we discovered an ancient world of symbols and formulas that inspired the identity and some of the visual assets we created. The clean, uncluttered, minimal style of the logo fed through into the art direction for the packaging, photo shoots, website design and more. Background videos of smoke and ink diffusing brought a hint of atmosphere, tying in with the products themselves and the notion of an ancient laboratory.

Being a one-stop design solution kept everything simple and direct for our client. They were able to trust Subism to handle all the identity and web design work, as well as producing luxury packaging for the products, which involved print wraps, special foils and embossing.

Our on-going work with Urban Apothecary means we are helping develop the look and feel of new products such as the Christmas line, which is set to feature foil-printed, powder-coated glass vessels with emboss foiled boxes to sit in.

Within six months of the relaunch, Urban Apothecary were already on target to smash all previous sales records. The new design has quickly become established and a growing list of retailers is stocking the products. New products and ranges are the next objective.